I've got to say a BIG thank-you to everyone who has already donated to our fundraiser! Expect personalized greeting cards coming at you soon (:

We are at exactly 1/3 of our team goal, but we still need your help. We're just a little over two months out from the half-marathon, and training is going... well, it's a little rough. But your support helps get us out there. Don't forget, when you donate $25, Elle will sing a little song for you, your choice.

And here's the deal - we still need to raise $2000. If we don't make the goal, the money will come out of our own back pocket! Yikes. So seriously, if everyone can just throw out a couple bucks, it would be mucho appreciated.

In the meantime, we're planning on putting together a great little party here in St. Louis as a fundraiser. Details coming soon!

We are just three months out from the big half-marathon and at only 16% of our fundraising goal - it's pretty clear that it's time to pull out the big-guns to make our goal and ensure we get to run this 13.1 miles!

The stakes have been raised - read on!

For donations of at least $25, the lovely, the talented, the fresh smelling Elizabeth Jewell Potter will cover any song you request and share it via YouTube as a personalized Thank-You for your support. Leave your request in the comments section of your donation. For an example of Elle singing a cover of a song, check out this link here.

But wait - there's more!

For donations of at least $100, Elle will write and record an original song about you (or any topic of your choosing, subject to approval) to post on YouTube as a Thank-You for your generous contribution.

Oh but hold onto your hats, folks...

For donations of $200 or more, Troika "Flying Wombat" Brodsky will perform for you any song of your choosing, with Elle accompanying him as back-up. While we can't guarantee that the song he actually performs on YouTube is the song you requested, we can promise it will be ... something.

Once we hit the half-way goal of our goal ($1250), we will release our training montage video for your viewing pleasure. Things you can look forward to experiencing in this touching documentary:

• Lots of sweating in the St Louis summer heat
• Yoga poses for the new runner
• Chase scenes
• Slow motion action shots
• Explosions!
• Point-of-view camera angles that make you, too, feel nauseous

Thank you for your support (and your dollars!)

Hi. I'm elle. Last month, I ran my first half marathon EVER with Team in Training and raised over $1300 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I did it in honor of my gramma Billie Jean and if it hadn't been for the inspiration of accomplishing this big goal for her, I would have never accomplished such a huge feat!

When I began my training a mere nine weeks out from the event, I couldn't even run a mile without stopping - but I finished the 13.1 miles in under three hours!

I decided to run another event with Team in Training this October - and to my surprise, my fantastic beau Troika volunteered to join me. He provided me with such loving support throughout my training (like waking up at 5:30am to make me green juice before my team trainings) that it is now my turn to lovingly support him.

Troika has never run a half marathon.... never RUN.... In fact, he says he does not see the point in it unless he is being chased. Specifically, chased by bears. He's going to move from spending his extra-cirricular time at the brewery to training with me.

Join us, won't you? Help us raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as we promise to delight and entertain you with stories of our training. (We're going to be filming an epic training montage for your viewing pleasure in the coming months).

Also, if anyone is interested in volunteering to dress up like a bear to chase Troika as part of his training, I'm accepting applications. Must provide own bear costume.

All I know is that if Troika trains with the same enthusiasm and alacricity as he is currently showing in critiquing this post I just wrote, he'll be fine. Except it will still probably involve a little more whining. (: <3

Here's the standard TNT low-down:

Throughout different cities and towns people are coming together to create separate teams to participate in a sports endurance event all with one common goal to honor and benefit all individuals battling blood cancers. Members of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training will be creating teams, large and small, that will be participating in sports events across the country. They will be raising funds to help find cures and more effective treatment for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. As a team, we can accomplish great things towards cures for blood cancers.